


Falling in Love 103

by mottainai



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: If You Squint - Freeform, M/M, Minor Tsukishima Kei/Yamaguchi Tadashi, Oneshot, Study Group, for kagehinaexchange 2015, number 159, oblivious dorks, school au, this one is for you
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-22
Updated: 2015-12-22
Packaged: 2018-05-08 09:26:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,950
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5492120
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mottainai/pseuds/mottainai
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Kageyama and Hinata are hopelessly in love with each other.</p>
<p>They just don't know it yet.</p>
<p>Yachi and Yamaguchi decide to stage an intervention, and Tsukishima gets dragged into it.</p>
<p>(Kageyama can't pronounce words with 'L's" in them, Hinata is your local greek tragedy story critic, the Y duo are running out of ideas, and Tsukishima definitely does not stress eat.)</p>
            </blockquote>





	Falling in Love 103

Hinata didn’t think he’d ever run so much in his life. Ukai was brutal in dishing out sprints. A break was called, and he flopped unceremoniously to the floor, chest heaving as his lungs struggled  to drag air back in. He could just lie here forever, he decided. He closed his eyes, ready to fall to sleep.

 

Then he felt he felt a slight nudge to his side. When he gave no response, the nudge became more insistent, and painful. Groaning, Hinata cracked open his eyelids, to be met with the sight of Kageyama, peering down at him. He was close enough that Hinata could see the individual strands of  hair, sticking to his forehead, and the lines of his chapped lips - also wow, Kageyama’s eyes are _really_ blue.

 

A hand appeared below his shoulder blades, gently lifting his torso up. “Sit up, dumbass.” Kageyama muttered. Sighing, Hinata complied. He heard some shuffling behind him, and then the hand at his back disappeared, leaving him propped up against a sitting Kageyama. He relaxed easily, slumping against the other boy’s side. He could feel the rise and fall of Kageyama’s breathing, lulling him to sleep.

 

As much as sleeping was on Hinata’s agenda, it certainly wasn’t on Kageyama’s. A water bottle was held before Hinata’s face, the cool surface feeling like heaven against his cheek. He took it gratefully, although still confused about the whole situation. However, Kageyama’s next words solved that.

 

“It’s better to drink sitting up, and you’ll recover faster.” He explained, adding, “Take care of yourself, dumbass.”

 

“You’re.. the dumbass.” Hinata huffed, but the words didn’t have much malice to them. Kageyama hummed in response.

 

Sometimes Kageyama could be really scary, but as the years had passed, Hinata found that he could be really nice, too.

 

(*˘︶˘*).｡.:*♡(*˘︶˘*).｡.:*♡(*˘︶˘*).｡.:*♡(*˘︶˘*).｡.:*♡(*˘︶˘*).｡.:*♡(*˘︶˘*).｡.:*♡(*˘︶˘*).｡.:*♡(*˘︶˘*).｡.:*♡(*˘︶˘*).｡.:*♡(*˘︶˘*).｡.:*♡(*˘︶˘*).｡.:*♡

 

The situation between Kageyama and Hinata was getting ridiculous. They had only gotten closer since their first year, spending a lot of time together, becoming deeply accustomed to the other. Now, at the beginning of their last year,  Kageyama had opened himself up, moving past his Kitagawa Daiichi days. They was well known through the prefecture and beyond; the limit-defying set-and-spike pair, one who didn’t listen to gravity, the other with unbelievable precision. They were Kageyama-and-Hinata.

 

They were somehow not dating.

 

Now, Yamaguchi wasn’t someone to materialise something out of nothing. He thought it was pretty obvious from the late night conversations with Hinata, that he had feelings for his setter. He would gush for hours about how amazing Kageyama was, how he could make the ball go “whoosh” just right so he could hit it perfectly like “gwaaah.” And when they weren’t talking about Kageyama, or volleyball, Hinata managed to relate back to him. (“Yeah, I bet Tokyo Tower is as high as like, three Kageyama’s, or something.”)

 

With Kageyama, he wasn’t as verbal -partly because he was on grandma level with using a cellphone- but he showed it in a supporting hand, or a concerned stare when Hinata crashed into the net pole (again). Most of all, Yamaguchi thought it was in the way he took care of Hinata. Exhibit A: being the current lovey dovey _“lean on me and drink from my drink bottle and stay healthy dumbass.”_

 

Yamaguchi felt like he was developing a cavity.

 

Beside him, Yachi was also watching in exasperation. “We need to stage an intervention.” She said.

 

(*˘︶˘*).｡.:*♡(*˘︶˘*).｡.:*♡(*˘︶˘*).｡.:*♡(*˘︶˘*).｡.:*♡(*˘︶˘*).｡.:*♡(*˘︶˘*).｡.:*♡(*˘︶˘*).｡.:*♡(*˘︶˘*).｡.:*♡(*˘︶˘*).｡.:*♡(*˘︶˘*).｡.:*♡(*˘︶˘*).｡.:*♡

 

For once, Kageyama and Hinata’s awful grades did them good. It was a valid reason to organize a “study group” aka “Operation: get Kageyama and Hinata to Date for the Love of all Things Good and Holy” or “OKHDLTGH” for short.

 

At first, it had been a challenge to convince the pair to willingly study something that didn’t involve volleyball, but Yachi only needed to remind them of the close shaves of the past two years to get them to grudgingly agree.

 

Tsukishima knew about their plan, - because Yamaguchi told him almost everything- but he remained firm that he wanted no part in it. This, however, didn’t stop Yamaguchi from getting his way, and Tsukishima found himself agreeing to come to the study group.

 

Kageyama peered down at the book in front of him warily. He had never placed much trust in books, but this volume seemed especially malevolent. It was tattered and worn, the spine broken after what seemed to be a very long life. Kageyama thought it was one of the longest books he’d ever seen, the width about the same of his palm. The faded cover was a painting full of naked people, with a title in swirling cursive that read: _A Brief Account of Greek History and Mythology._

 

“I don’t see how this will help us with our focus on Feudal Japan for History.” He murmured, apprehensive to even touch the tome.

 

“It’s exactly _because_ it’s not on topic that makes it so important!” Yachi jumped to explain, “This is about deepening our understanding. There could be an exam question about comparing Feudal Japan to an ancient civilisation!” Kageyama turned the idea through his mind, before relenting. Yachi was usually right about these things.

 

“Okay, so we’re going to read about The Siege of Troy-” Tsukishima snorted, but Yamaguchi steadfastly ignored him, flipping through the pages of the textbook. “Starting from page 394, and we’ll discuss it after we’re finished. Don’t think you can skimp on the reading either. I’ll quiz you on some of the points.”

 

Kageyama didn’t doubt that Yamaguchi would go through with his threat, so he set himself to the reading. The writing itself was dry, and all the names were too complicated, giving him a headache just thinking about how he would go about pronouncing them. He often found his mind wandering, and could tell Hinata beside him wasn’t any better. He was bouncing his knee under the table, and worrying away at his lip viciously. Without thinking, Kageyama reached out his hand, rescuing Hinata’s lip from his teeth. His lips were chapped, but supple. Pulling away, and trying to shoo thoughts of Hinata’s lips (really, what was up with that?) from his mind, Kageyama realised that Hinata was staring at him.

 

“You should stop that.” He whispered. “It’s not good for you.” _Your lips are too nice to bite at._

 

Kageyama goes back to reading. The Y duo give each other a discreet high five, and Tsukishima quietly unwrapped an energy bar, shoving it all into his mouth in one go.

 

 (*˘︶˘*).｡.:*♡(*˘︶˘*).｡.:*♡(*˘︶˘*).｡.:*♡(*˘︶˘*).｡.:*♡(*˘︶˘*).｡.:*♡(*˘︶˘*).｡.:*♡(*˘︶˘*).｡.:*♡(*˘︶˘*).｡.:*♡(*˘︶˘*).｡.:*♡(*˘︶˘*).｡.:*♡(*˘︶˘*).｡.:*♡

 

“So who was Helen originally married to?”

 

“That Meanlas guy.” Hinata answered confidently.

 

“Menelaus?”

 

“That one.” He confirmed. “But then Paris took her.”

 

“Because they were in love.” Yachi reminded him.

 

“But really Helen was being controlled by Aph-Aphrode- her. And Paris only liked her because she was the most beautiful.” Hinata argued. This was not the way the Y duo had wanted the conversation to go in.

 

Kageyama piped up. “Being Heren must have really sucked.” Hinata nodded his agreement.

 

“Did you mean Helen?” Tsukishima snickered.

 

Kageyama frowned. “That’s what I said.”

 

“No, you-” The rest of Tsukishima’s sentence was cut off as he jolted, sending Yamaguchi an accusatory look.

 

“Anyway,” Yamaguchi jumped in, “Paris and Helen loved each other so much that they didn’t back down, even when the Grecian army was outside the walls. I suppose they thought that as long as they were together, they were…” He paused for dramatic affect. “Invincible.”

 

Tsukishima scoffed, but it soon turned into a pained hiss. Yamaguchi’s boots were steel toed.

 

“This whole ‘In Love’ thing sounds pretty stupid.” Hinata said, still not convinced.

 

Yachi and Yamaguchi sighed in unison. They really weren’t getting it.

 

“Hypothetically speaking, Hinata, if you were unhappily married to, say, Tendou-” Hinata sent Yachi a horrified look. “-but then Kageyama rescued you, don’t you think you would be happier?”

 

Hinata scrunched up his nose. “Happier, yeah. But I don’t think I would love him. Why am I Helen anyway?”

 

Yamaguchi kicked Tsukishima before he could say anything.

 

“I don’t think you suit Heren.” Kageyama told him. “She was the most beautiful person on earth, but she didn’t stand up for herself.”

 

While Kageyama _meant well_ with his comment, Hinata took it the wrong way.

 

He grabbed the closest thing in reach, and threw it with full force at Kageyama’s face. “You’re uglier than me, Bakageyama!”

 

The closest thing in reach was _A Brief Account of Greek History and Mythology._

 

Kageyama was down for the count, Tsukishima couldn’t stop snickering, and Yamaguchi could see an irritated librarian striding towards them.

 

(*˘︶˘*).｡.:*♡(*˘︶˘*).｡.:*♡(*˘︶˘*).｡.:*♡(*˘︶˘*).｡.:*♡(*˘︶˘*).｡.:*♡(*˘︶˘*).｡.:*♡(*˘︶˘*).｡.:*♡(*˘︶˘*).｡.:*♡(*˘︶˘*).｡.:*♡(*˘︶˘*).｡.:*♡(*˘︶˘*).｡.:*♡

 

Grumbling, Tsukishima opened his front door, finding four expectant faces looking back at him. Once again, he found his eyes drawn immediately to the impressive black eye featuring on Kageyama’s face. At least there would be one thing Tsukishima would enjoy today.

 

Sighing, he walked back down the hall, leaving the door open so they could file inside. “Why do we have to do this at my house, again?”

 

Of course, it was Yamaguchi that answered him. “We needed somewhere to go after we were banned from the library. Your house is the closest to everyone else’s, _and_ you have the biggest living room.”

 

Tsukishima grumbled some more.

 

“I brought snacks!” Hinata exclaimed, filling up the quiet, and holding up a couple of bags of potato chips.

 

They all shuffled into Tsukishima’s living room, and took a seat around the table. Despite his obvious deference to his guests, Tsukishima had still cleaned to a state of spotless.

 

Since the Trojan War had only led to arguments and Kageyama gaining mental scarring (the mere sight of grecian textbooks terrified him), the Y duo had decided to move on to an English lesson, with less subtlety than last time. These idiots needed a big push, it seemed. English to Japanese dictionaries were passed out. Kageyama frowned at his with distrust.

 

“Today, we’ll study some important words in English.” Yachi said. “Please find the word ‘relationship’ in the dictionary.”

 

While the others found the word easily, Kageyama and Hinata were left floundering, rifling through the pages randomly, until Yamaguchi called out the page number to them.

 

“You can read this one out, Hinata.” Yachi prompted.

 

“Relationship. Noun. A connection, association, or involvement. Connection between persons through blood or marriage.” Hinata fell silent, deep in thought as he read through the definition again. The Y duo held their breath, leaning forward in anticipation. Had their hard work paid off?

 

Hinata looked back up at them, stars in his eyes. “I think I’m in a relationship with volleyball!” He told them excitedly. Kageyama nodded seriously.

 

Yamaguchi deflated. “It’s really more of a thing between two people.” He tried to explain, but his words fell on deaf ears. He then noticed Tsukishima, lying on the floor in stitches, tears at the corner of his eyes. “The next word is ‘ill-natured.” Yamaguchi snapped. “You can read that one, Tsukishima.”

 

The absence of the nickname alerted Tsukishima that Yamaguchi was livid. Grudgingly, he found the word and read out the entry. “Ill-natured. Adjective. Having or showing an unkindly or unpleasant disposition.”

 

“Hmm. I would think someone who is _ill-natured_ would be a rather unhelpful and burdensome person.” Yamaguchi remarked. “I, personally, wouldn’t want to associate myself with such a person.”

 

Tsukishima went quiet, and reached for a packet of chips.

 

“Okaaay.” Yachi piped up, hoping to dissolve the tension in the air. “I think the next word we’ll look at is ‘love.’ When you find it, Kageyama, please read it aloud.” As the oddball pair started their search, Yachi turned to Tsukishima, who was quietly munching away at his chips with determination.

 

“Are you… stress eating?” She asked, throwing him out of his trance.

 

“Of course not.” He said. “I was just hungry.” Yachi didn’t believe him, but held any comment.

 

By some miracle, Kageyama had found the entry. He cleared his throat, preparing to wrap his tongue around the foreign word. “Ru- rovo- rovu. Noun. A profoundly-”

 

“Sorry, what was that?” Hinata interjected.

 

Kageyama huffed. “A profoundly tender-”

 

“No, I meant right at the start.” A cheeky little smile danced across his lips.

 

Sighing, Kageyama felt like he was about to be teased. “Rovu. Nou-”

 

“You mean love?”

 

“That’s what I _said._ ”

 

“No, it really wasn’t.”

 

“Yes it was!”

 

“Go on, say it again.”

 

Yachi and Yamaguchi watched the conversation unfold with resentment. Once again, they had been defeated by the pair’s idiocy. Tsukishima picked up another bag of chips.

 

“Rovu.”

 

“Love.”

 

“Rovu.”

 

“Love!”

 

“Rovu!”

 

“You’re not pronouncing the L right! When you make the sound, you stick your tongue to the roof of your mouth, like this, see? Lllllllllll” Hinata opened his mouth wide, showing off the position of his tongue.

 

“Eurll- ullllll?” Kageyama tried to imitate the sound.

 

“Close enough. And you don’t have to add the u to the end either. Just end at the v, because the e doesn’t sound like anything.”

 

“But that’s stupid.”

 

Hinata shrugged. “English is a stupid language. Try it. Llllllllove.”

 

“Uellove.”

 

“There you go!” Hinata beamed, earning a huff from Kageyama.

 

The Y duo were silent. By this point, they didn’t even know if what had just transpired was a positive movement or not.

 

(*˘︶˘*).｡.:*♡(*˘︶˘*).｡.:*♡(*˘︶˘*).｡.:*♡(*˘︶˘*).｡.:*♡(*˘︶˘*).｡.:*♡(*˘︶˘*).｡.:*♡(*˘︶˘*).｡.:*♡(*˘︶˘*).｡.:*♡(*˘︶˘*).｡.:*♡(*˘︶˘*).｡.:*♡(*˘︶˘*).｡.:*♡

 

“Okay, so we might have to pull back on the subtlety.”

 

“Really pull back.” Yamaguchi groaned. “There has to be a limit of how dim they can be, right?”

 

“I don’t know.” Yachi’s voice was grave. “By this point, it might be best to shove their faces together, or lock them in a closet, or something.”

 

“We will give it one more try. If it doesn’t work, then we will resort to tactics like those.”

 

“Agreed.”

 

(*˘︶˘*).｡.:*♡(*˘︶˘*).｡.:*♡(*˘︶˘*).｡.:*♡(*˘︶˘*).｡.:*♡(*˘︶˘*).｡.:*♡(*˘︶˘*).｡.:*♡(*˘︶˘*).｡.:*♡(*˘︶˘*).｡.:*♡(*˘︶˘*).｡.:*♡(*˘︶˘*).｡.:*♡(*˘︶˘*).｡.:*♡

 

The third session of “Operation: get Kageyama and Hinata to Date for the Love of all Things Good and Holy” commenced once again, at Tsukishima’s house.

 

“So, we’ll revisit last time, when we were talking about love. In English, love can mean a lot of things.” Yamaguchi hoped this message would make it through. “A person could say that they love sport, or strawberry shortcake,” He couldn’t help himself from glancing at Tsukishima. “Or even a new haircut. But it can also hold a lot of weight, when you’re talking to someone and both of you know how serious you are. It’s confusing for us, because when you’re new to the language it can be hard to differentiate. We’re used to ‘suki’ for most things, even a confession. But ‘aishiteru’ is sacred, and something we say very rarely.” Everyone nodded. “So, let’s practice the different types of love. Kageyama, Hinata, how do you feel about volleyball?”

 

“I love it.” They both answered immediately, and in unison.

 

“But _why_ do you love it?” Yachi pressed.

 

Hinata was the first to speak. “I love it because when I jump like ‘waaah’, and Kageyama sets me the ball like ‘fwooosh’, and then I hit it like ‘gwaaah’, and it doesn’t matter if the blockers are there or not! That’s the best feeling. And half the time when I’m not playing volleyball, I’m thinking about playing volleyball. I love it because Kageyama and I kinda merge minds, have this connection-”

 

“Like a relationship?” Yamaguchi prompted. He felt like he was finally seeing the light at the end of the tunnel.

 

“Well, yeah I guess. We have this connection, and we use it to prove everyone that doubts us wrong.”

 

Yachi nodded. “Hold onto that thought. Now, Kageyama. Why do _you_ love volleyball?”

 

Kageyama stared at his hands, ordering his thoughts. “Volleyball is volleyball. It’s been what I've grown up with. I love it because I’m good at it, and I love setting a perfect set to Hinata. I don’t actually know who I’d be without it.”

 

Now, it was Tsukishima who shifted awkwardly. He wasn’t comfortable with conversations about big feelings. Slowly, he nibbled on a biscuit.

 

“Okay, so.” Yachi started, and realised she was trembling with excitement. “Both of you, I want you to think about how you feel about volleyball, and how you feel about each other. Concentrate really hard, okay?” Kageyama and Hinata didn’t really understand where this was going, but went along with it.

 

“Now take volleyball and each other, and separate them into two things. How do they compare?”

 

A silence stretched across the room. Hinata and Kageyama were frozen, staring at each other. Yamaguchi, on the other hand, felt like he was vibrating, and sent a huge grin to Yachi. They had made it. They had actually made it. He could hear choirs of angels singing. It was truly a glorious moment.

 

“It’s- it’s kinda the same.” Hinata said in a hushed voice. “But volleyball is “pshaaa”, and I’m always looking towards the next thing. Kageyama is more “uwaaah”, and I feel like I can be still and it’s… Cozy.”

 

Kageyama nodded. “Volleyball is volleyball.” He said simply. “But Hinata is Hinata.”

 

It was one of the strangest confessions, but that made it perfect for them.

 

They continued to stare at each other for quite some time, lips twitching, eyebrows raising. They were blissfully paying absolutely no attention to the rest of the room’s occupants.

 

“I give up.” Tsukishima muttered, rising and stalking off to the kitchen, where the sound of the refrigerator door opening could be heard.

 

“Stress eating.” Yachi noted sympathetically, Yamaguchi humming in agreement.

 

“‘M not stress eating!” Tsukishima protested around a mouthful of shortcake, as he walked back into the living room, crumbs at the corner of his mouth.

 

In the meanwhile, Kageyama and Hinata had managed to tie themselves in knots around each other, face sucking with extra slobber. Passionate slobber, yes, but still slobber.

 

Tsukishima turned heel, running for the sanctuary of the kitchen.

 

And so, Yachi and Yamaguchi’s mission was complete.

**Author's Note:**

> Say hi to me @trash-buy-vouge on tumblr!


End file.
